1. Field
Aspects of the exemplary embodiments relate to a broadcast retransmitting method, a broadcast retransmitting apparatus, a relay apparatus and a broadcast retransmitting system using the same. In particular, the exemplary embodiments relate to a broadcast retransmitting method which retransmits a broadcast received at a host apparatus to surrounding apparatuses, and a broadcast retransmitting apparatus, a relay apparatus, and a broadcast retransmitting system, using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid development of information and communication technologies contribute to the establishment of a network across a country, an industry and a home. In particular, it is common that users own at least one mobile communication device and easily exchange data with one another using the mobile communication device in a wireless manner within their homes or offices.
As the development of information and communication technologies is directly related to the development of broadcast communication technologies, users today can enjoy diverse broadcast contents provided by diverse broadcast providers, through a terrestrial broadcast, a satellite broadcast or a cable broadcast. In order to watch such a broadcast, users should generally use a device designed to receive a broadcast, such as a television or a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) receiver.
However, because of the widespread use of diverse communication devices, there is a necessity to find a method for allowing a communication device to re-receive a broadcast once received at a broadcast receiving apparatus from a broadcast provider and to provide the broadcast to a user, although the communication device is not designed to directly receive a broadcast.
In this case, however, a problem exists when a channel environment is limited, because an available frequency band is already saturated. In particular, the problem becomes more serious if a broadcast should be transmitted to a plurality of devices.
In order to solve such a problem relating to the lack of radio resources, a technique regarding cognitive radio (CR) may be used. The CR technique refers to a method that shares radio resources by finding unoccupied frequency channels through a temporal/spatial check on the frequency channels already allocated to a primary user, and allowing a secondary user to use the unoccupied channel without causing interference to the primary user.
It is common for users to watch a broadcast using a plurality of TVs within their homes. Also, the use of several monitors or mobile devices that can allow a user to watch a broadcast within a home has increased. In this situation, a method for a host TV to wirelessly retransmit a broadcast to the other devices, and allow them to easily receive a broadcast has been suggested. This method may be performed using wireless communication, such as a wireless LAN. However, there is a need to establish a broadcasting system which supports stable transmission, even when using a narrow bandwidth.
Since such a broadcasting system requires broadcast retransmission in a home, the problem exists when frequency bands are already saturated, so that an extra frequency band is not allocated. If a CR technique is used to find an unauthorized idle frequency band, there is still the problem that an available frequency range is not always uniform and is limited. Therefore, there is a need for a method for establishing a broadcast retransmitting system which operates more efficiently.